Tag: indoor audio

Technomad Upgrades Two Loudspeakers from its MP Series

BOSTON, January 9, 2008 – Technomad Associates, LLC, a leader in weatherproof outdoor loudspeakers and Turnkey PA systems, today announced that new versions of its popular Vienna 16 and Paris 616 weatherproof outdoor loudspeakers are now available and shipping. The Version8 models include upgrades that maximize the loudspeaker output while retaining the broad dispersion and clear audio that are hallmarks of Technomad loudspeakers.

Technomad Vienna 16 and Paris 616 loudspeakers are part of the company’s MP Series, a range of weatherproof loudspeakers designed for permanent installation, indoors and outdoors. Popular applications include city walkways, public spaces, tourist attractions, hockey and ice skating rinks, cruise ships, municipal swimming pools, and outdoor community amphitheaters.

The Version8 models add compression drivers that provide an added 3dB of maximum continuous SPL and an added 10dB of dynamic range, ensuring voice intelligibility and musical output at all volume levels. The upgrades also reflect the company’s preference for refining its established range of loudspeakers as opposed to flooding the market with new products.

These upgrades are targeted toward outdoor applications where background noise is more likely to adversely affect audio output. This includes open stadiums and other outdoor installations where wind becomes a factor, said Rodger von Kries, vice president of Technomad. The new compression driver and crossover networks increase the performance of these loudspeakers across the board. The result is a more articulate sounding loudspeaker with improved audio quality in the mid-to-upper frequency range.

Technomad Loudspeakers Installed at Club Med, Cancun

Club Med Cancun Goes High Tech w/Technomad Loudspeakers

Hurricane Wilma tore through the Gulf of Mexico in early fall, 2005, settling on top of the Yucatan Peninsula and barely moving for 48 hours. After making its exit, some of Mexico’s most famous resort areas, including the city of Cancun, were left battered and faced with a long period of rebuilding.

Club Med Cancun, with its shoreline location, was just one of many resorts that sustained heavy damage from winds, rain and an unrelenting storm surge. The club took the opportunity to rebuild its lighting and sound infrastructure along with much of its resort, favoring high-fidelity audio products and a lighting system that was easy to operate yet technically advanced enough to produce the right atmosphere in each room.

The Core Audio team, in cooperation with Whump Sound, a Los Angeles based dealer specializing in audio installations, led the systems integration. Technomad loudspeakers were selected for all open-air venues, partially due to the true weatherproof design of the loudspeakers. These venues include a mix of restaurants, bars and entertainment areas plus the valet greeting area in front of the resort.

According to Bill Weir of Core Audio, Many resorts of this size put budget over any other consideration when choosing equipment and the audio reproduction at the end point is anything but musical. Club Med Cancun uses a 24-bit distribution system that plays back high resolution audio files, and that fidelity is well represented in each zone due to the choice of loudspeakers … the range of products that can withstand the Cancun environment is very limited, and Technomad meets both the musical and environmental requirements.

The outdoor entertainment area, known as The Chispa, offers a movie theater and a performance area with an exceptional A/V and lighting system. The central kiosk area is peppered with palm trees that are lit using Color Kinetics color blasts. The LED fixtures for each palm tree are automated using a Martin Light Jockey control system, with 220 volt power lines providing juice to each palm tree. Like the Soluna, the lighting for this zone is customized to match the event, and can be manually operated on theme nights using a small 8-button switcher. Martin 250 Kryptons and Washes were also installed in the theater area.

The Chispa movie theater is perhaps the most unique aspect of the resort, and according to Weir, a one-of-its-kind system. The integration team painted one side of a three-story hotel building on the resort with retro-reflective, high-gain paint. Guests can sit on the beach or on bench seating in the pool area to watch movies projected onto the building.
DJs and performance groups can also take advantage of this outdoor entertainment area. A pair of Technomad Berlin loudspeakers was purchased for mobile events, and plug in to rack systems on the performance stage.

The remaining room-to-room breakdown of Technomad loudspeakers include: The Pergola, a beach bar that features four Noho-C Install loudspeakers hung 9 feet above the crowd and two Chicago 15/H Install subwoofers at two corners along the baseboards; eight Vernals 15’s in The Chispa and Las Velas, the pool bar; and Noho-C Install and Vernal 15 loudspeakers in the valet area, which play back low volume music as guests enter the resort. Crown DSI series amplifiers are used to power the audio in each of these zones, offering full parametric EQ, crossover functions and basic signal processing.

The Berlins were specifically chosen for mobile events because they are high quality, full range portable loudspeakers that can be used anywhere on the resort at a moment’s notice, said Weir. They offer a full range of sound with excellent bass response and a very nice tonal quality that is ideal for DJ sets. In the Pergola, the Nohos produce enough sound pressure levels at 1 a.m. so that people who want it loud can turn up the volume, but still produce a full, pleasing sound at lower volumes. This was the same idea we had for the Vernal 15 installation in the pollapa, with a higher emphasis on producing clearly audible sound at low levels for conversational situations.

Note: This article was originally published in a longer format in the October, 2007 printed and online editions of Lighting & Sound America.

Technomad Loudspeakers Achieve IP56 Performance Rating

Technomad Loudspeakers Achieve Full Range IP56 Performance Rating from IEC for Protection against Hazardous Elements

BOSTON, November 28, 2007 – Technomad Associates, LLC, a leader in weatherproof outdoor loudspeakers and Turnkey PA systems, today announced that its complete line of loudspeakers and subwoofers are compliant with the International Electrotechnical Commission’s (IEC) IP56 rating under its IP Code. IP56 is a stringent standard for superior protection against hazardous parts and water ingression, and is an extremely rare rating for full-range outdoor loudspeakers. IEC provides international standards and conformity assessments for government, business and society for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

The IP Code defined in IEC’s international standard 60529 classifies the level of protection provided against the intrusion of solid objects, dust, water and accidental contact. All Technomad products ranging from its 60-watt Vernal 15 loudspeaker to the 800-watt Chicago 15/12 subwoofer have an IP56 rating, reflecting the company’s philosophy for manufacturing rugged, reliable outdoor loudspeakers that also offer exceptional audio quality with clear voice intelligibility and outstanding musical output.

Following IP for International Protection or Ingress Protection rating, the first digit indicates the level of protection that the enclosure provides against access to hazardous parts and the ingress of solid foreign objects. The second digit indicates equipment protection levels inside the enclosure against harmful water ingression. Officially, a 5rating for the first digit means that dust ingression will not interfere with the operation of the equipment and offers complete protection against contact; a 6 rating for the second digital means that water projected in powerful jets against the enclosure from any direction results in no harmful effects.

Technomad loudspeakers are installed around the world in cruise ships, theme parks, sports stadiums, outdoor entertainment venues, and other harsh environment fixed system and mobile applications in military, government and private sectors. Many of these installations are reliant on Technomad’s IP56 rating due to constant exposure to dust, water and other harsh elements in booth indoor and outdoor environments. Recent examples include:

Tyco Fire & Building Products: Technomad Vernal 15 loudspeakers are consistently exposed to water and high humidity inside the new training and test facility in Cranston, Rhode Island. Six loudspeakers are installed on the perimeter of a concrete block spray distribution area featuring various sprinkler systems, hydraulics and spray patterns.

Club Med Cancun: Technomad loudspeakers are exposed year-round to sand, sea salt and rain outside on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.

National Training Center at Ft. Irwin: Technomad Military PA systems sit outside in the California desert all year, broadcasting Sunni and Shiite prayers in makeshift Iraqi villages as they are continually exposed to wind-blown sand and dust.

Technomad loudspeakers feature true integrated weatherproofing as opposed to weatherized or weather-resistant loudspeakers that compromise acoustic performance and have a short shelf life in unprotected outdoor installations, said David Meyer, Commercial Sales Manager for Technomad. We are pleased to announce that our products meet the superior IP56 rating from IEC, a highly respected international electrical standards organization.